Born and raised in St. Joseph, Steven Hochman became Assistant to President Jimmy Carter and Director of Research at The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. A graduate of Central High School, he continued at the University of Missouri-Columbia, graduating there with honors in History. He was named a Thomas Jefferson Foundation Fellow at the University of Virginia, where he earned a Ph.D. in History. At this institution founded by Thomas Jefferson, he became the research assistant to Dumas Malone who, supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, was at work on a six volume biography of Jefferson. Hochman assisted with the final three volumes, and the series was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in History.

In 1981, former President Jimmy Carter asked Hochman to join him in Plaines, Georgia to assist with writing his presidential memoir. The next year President Carter partnered with Emory University in Atlanta and created The Carter Center. A global nongovernmental organization committed to advancing human rights and alleviating human suffering. It seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and advance health.

Continuing as assistant to President Carter, he has helped him with most of his thirty-two books and other publications and coordinates his academic affairs at Emory and elsewhere. Hochman also serves as Director of Research at the Center, and is on the faculty of Emory. He has taught courses in the Department of History and Political Science, on Jefferson, NGO’s and Public Policy. His own writings and lectures have focused on The Carter Center, the history of the United States and the American Presidency.